In the name of creating a unified regulatory framework, President Trump has issued an Executive Order directing federal agencies to challenge and constrain state Artificial Intelligence (AI) laws while his Administration pursues a single national framework, building on Executive Order 14179 (Jan. 23, 2025).
The Executive Order previews a DOJ AI Litigation Task Force (within 30 days), a U.S. Department of Commerce report flagging “onerous” state laws (within 90 days), and asks the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to consider a federal AI reporting/disclosure standard and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to explain when the FTC Act’s deception prohibition would preempt state rules that mandate altering truthful model outputs. Funding restrictions are also in play as states with conflicting laws could face limits on non deployment of federal funds relating to broadband deployment.
At nearly the same time, Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed a sweeping change to New York’s Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, replacing the Legislature’s text with language that closely tracks California’s SB 53. The key changes include moving the applicability threshold from $100 million in training compute (RAISE) to $500 million in annual revenue (SB 53), removing RAISE’s pre release prohibition on models posing an “unreasonable risk of critical harm,” and requiring incident disclosure only after harm occurs. Hochul’s call up of the bill to the legislature starts a short decision window (until December 19) for signature, veto or “chapter amendments,” as sponsors press to preserve RAISE while the AI industry pushes to mirror SB 53’s less burdensome transparency regime.
Why this Alignment Matters
If New York adopts SB 53 style language, the two largest U.S. technology jurisdictions (California and New York) will effectively harmonize core transparency and incident reporting expectations for “large” developers. In practice, that would pull the market toward a uniform operating baseline, even before Congress acts — nudging the nation closer to a de facto national framework that echoes the Administration’s stated goal of “One Rulebook.” Expect legal tests around federal preemption and the limits of agency authority (FCC/FTC), but corporate compliance programs will increasingly converge on California/New York norms if both states agree on the same model text.
What Businesses Should Do Now
Companies should map their governance to both regimes and be ready to pivot quickly. If New York ultimately mirrors SB 53, prepare for annual publication/review of safety frameworks, whistleblower protections and post harm incident disclosures for large developers. If RAISE holds, add compute based coverage, pre release safety prohibitions, 72 hour incident notices, higher penalties and knowledge distillation considerations. In parallel, monitor federal moves under the Executive Order (litigation, FCC/FTC proceedings, Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment funding conditions).
Our Artificial Intelligence Industry Team is closely tracking this and related matters. If you have questions or concerns on the state and federal proposals, please contact attorney Timothy J. Plunkett at (914) 298-3004 and tplunkett@harrisbeachmurtha.com, or the Harris Beach Murtha attorney with whom you most frequently work.
This alert is not a substitute for advice of counsel on specific legal issues.
Harris Beach Murtha’s lawyers and consultants practice from offices throughout Connecticut in Bantam, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford; New York state in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Long Island and White Plains, as well as in Boston, Massachusetts, and Newark, New Jersey.
